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Apr

Last Updated: 12/04/2024

Environment

College revamp plans 'will cause parking chaos' at Hornbeam Park

by John Grainger

| 12 Apr, 2024

Harrogate College, on Hornbeam Park.

Plans to redevelop Harrogate College’s site are threatening to cause parking “chaos”, according to neighbouring tenants on Hornbeam Park.

As we reported in February, the college is replacing its main building and constructing a £20 million renewable energy skills hub to ‘future-proof’ the site.

Luminate Education Group, of which Harrogate College is a member, applied for planning permission for the project in August and the case is due to be decided upon by today.

Preparatory work has already begun on site and Harrogate College has announced that its car park, which it says is used by around 70 staff and students at any one time, will be closed from Monday, April 22 to allow work to proceed.

The college aims to move into the new main campus building in July 2025, after which the current property will be demolished, making way for new parking facilities.

In the meantime, the college will have 242 fewer car-parking spaces, and has told staff and students to park at the Hornbeam Park rail station and in nearby streets. In its construction management plan, main contractor Caddick Construction states:

“We encourage the use of the nearby station car-park.”

But neighbouring tenants on the business park say the rail halt car-park is usually full, and neighbouring streets are not a satisfactory solution to the shortage of spaces.

Chris Bentley is director of Hornbeam Park Developments, which owns and runs the business park. He told the Stray Ferret:

“I am not objecting to the new college – I applaud the fact that they are replacing it with an all new facility, fit for purpose for the next generation.

“What I am objecting to is the displacement of car-parking without thought to the businesses here at Hornbeam. They are also encouraging their car-users to park at the rail halt or around the nearby residential area.

“It’ll cause chaos to the businesses here – there is no extra available parking on the site and the Hornbeam Park railway station car park it always full.

“When the project was originally proposed we were given to understand that a new college car-park would be rebuilt on the old building’s site.

“Now we find that they are reducing the allocation by a third from 242 currently available down to 88, based on a one-day survey taken as we came out of covid.”

His views are echoed by several Hornbeam Park tenants who left comments on the council’s online planning portal.

In his comment, Alan Fisher, facilities manager at nearby Techbuyer, said:

“Our concern is that it may devolve into a chaotic situation, with people potentially parking in other spaces across Hornbeam Park, including our staff car-parks which are already reaching capacity. Such a scenario could adversely affect our business and staff, as well as customers and clients.”

He added:

“We have a large number of heavy vehicles delivering to our sites, and third parties – who haven't been briefed as our staff are – pose a safety risk in relation to the operation of these vehicles and the forklifts needed to load and unload them.”

Also commenting on the planning application, Deb Robinson, of family business Witch Casket, said:

“I already have issues with our parking spaces, stopping my employees being able to park in our own dedicated car-park and deliveries from being made to our warehouse. People have been incredibly abusive and this has caused great emotional distress to our staff.”

Mr Bentley suggested that the college use a nearby field – believed to be owned by Hull College and the Department for Education – as a temporary car-park. However, Harrogate College said it explored the idea but found it was impractical for a number of reasons, principally due to the impact on traffic. It said North Yorkshire Council had advised that making the field into a car-park would require altering all of Hornbeam Park Avenue – the main road through the business park – to ensure safe access.

Danny Wild, Principal of Harrogate College, said the closure of the car-park could not be avoided and said that Caddick Construction had secured 20 spare parking spaces at Hornbeam Park to mitigate the shortfall. He told the Stray Ferret:

"Our exciting £20 million rebuild will allow us to provide the education and training required by Harrogate and North Yorkshire now and in the future, and so bolster the local economy by filling the skills gaps, including in the fast-growing sustainability sector, currently holding us back.

"Doing so will bring great and long-term benefits to our students, community and businesses, which is what we are committed to.

"The temporary closure of our car-park is a necessary part of this project. During this time, we are advising our staff and students to either make alternative travel arrangements to college where possible or to park responsibly in the local area."

Hornbeam Park has about 120 tenants, and it is estimated that around 4,500 people work and study on the park each day. All the roads providing access around the site belong to site owner Hornbeam Park Developments Ltd, so parking there is not a matter for North Yorkshire Council.

There is no longer any direct bus service from Harrogate town centre to Hornbeam Park, but commuters can still catch buses as far as either Leeds Road, which is 750m away, or Oatlands Drive, 500m away. Both fall within the walking distances deemed acceptable under Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation guidelines.

The regular rail service between Harrogate and Leeds also stops at Hornbeam Park 30 times per day in each direction.

The redevelopment of Harrogate College’s site will create modern facilities such as a mock hospital ward, digital technology suite, electric vehicle workshop and a construction centre focused on teaching modern building methods.

A total of £16m of the funding has come from the Department for Education’s Further Education Capital Transformation Fund.

Luminate Education Group is a collection of six education providers based in the Leeds City Region and also includes Leeds City College, Leeds Conservatoire, Keighley College, University Centre Leeds and Leeds Sixth Form College.

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